Russia approves OVL’s deal to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield

The Russian Government has approved a deal of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield from Rosneft.

The deal was signed between the OVL and Rosneft in September 2015 and is worth 1.3 billion US dollars. Vankor is Russia’s second biggest oil field with capacity of total 2.5 billion recoverable reserves barrels (or 500 million tonnes).

As per the deal

OVL’s stake in Vankor will raise to 26% from 15% and will give it about 3.5 million metric tonnes of oil a year

Consequently, Rosneft will retain the remaining 50.1 per cent and also retain full control of infrastructure of the Vankor cluster.

This deal is in addition to another deal that was signed in March 2016 between the OVL and three other oil companies. Both of these deals will help India to secure access to lucrative Russia’s oil market, while Rosneft in turn will through OVL gain access to the Indian market.

Vankor oilfield was discovered in 1988 and is main source supplier to the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) Pipeline that is key contributor to the energy needs of China.